东晋年间（公元317年至公元420年），浙江上虞县祝员外之女英台，美丽聪颖，一心向学。虽然传统上女子被禁入学堂，但祝员外最终还是应允英台女扮男装，去杭州万松书院求学。

In the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317- 420 AD), there lived a beautiful and intelligent maiden named Zhu Yingtai, the only daughter of a wealthy, noble family living in Shangyu, Zhejiang. Traditionally, females were forbidden to attend school, but Yingtai, driven by her thirst for knowledge, convinced her father to allow her to disguise herself as a male so that she could receive an education at Wansong Academy in Hangzhou.

　　途中，邂逅了会稽郡城书生梁山伯，一见如故，相读甚欢，在草桥亭上撮土为香，义结金兰。不一日，二人来到会稽郡城的书院，拜师入学。从此，同窗共读，形影不离。梁祝同学三年，情深似海。英台深爱山伯，但山伯却始终不知她是女子。有一天英台收到家书，父亲催归甚急，英台只得仓促回乡。

On her journey to the city, Yingtai met Liang Shanbo, a poor scholar from Kuaiji and together, they shared a bond of brotherhood, having found they had interests in common. For the next few years in school, they shared a room and studied together. Yingtai gradually fell in love with Shanbo while the latter had no idea that his best friend was a girl. One day, Yingtai received a letter from her father, telling her to come home.

　　在归家之前，祝英台告诉梁山伯她想将自己妹妹许配给梁，希望梁山泊尽早去祝家提亲。然而待山伯去祝家求婚时，岂知祝父已意将英台许配给如权贵子弟马文才。

Before she returned home, she told Shanbo that she would like to encourage a romantic match between Shanbo and her ‘sister’, and bid him to visit her home as soon as he could. Not long after, when Shanbo finally visited Yingtai and discovered her true identity it was too late as her father had already arranged an engagement between Yingtai and Ma Wencai, a young man who came from a rich family.

　　梁山伯忧郁成疾，不久身亡。祝英台被迫出嫁时，要求绕道去梁山伯墓前祭奠，希望能见他最后一面。在坟前，祝英台哀恸大哭。

The broken-hearted Shanbo, who had by this time, fallen in love with Yingtai, fell critically ill and soon passed away. On the day of the wedding, the marriage procession was stopped midway by strong whirlwinds. Upon hearing that Shanbo’s grave was nearby, Yingtai requested the procession to stop so that she could pay her respects and while there at his grave she broke down and wept in despair.

　　突然，雷声毫无征兆地响起，梁山伯的坟墓塌陷裂开，祝英台投入坟中，其后坟中冒出一对彩蝶，双双飞去离开了尘世。这个故事是中国最受欢迎的民间故事之一，被认为是中国版的罗密欧与朱丽叶。

Suddenly, without warning, there was a clap of thunder, the grave cracked opened and Yingtai leapt in without hesitation. The spirits of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai ultimately emerged and flew away as a pair of beautiful butterflies, forever tied in their love for each other. This story is one of the most popular folk tales in China and is regarded as the Chinese equivalent of Romeo and Juliet.

来源：     | 作者：胡金    | 责编：胡金    审核：张渊

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